Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Late Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker was saluted by the duo's remaining member, Donald Fagen at Pier Six Pavilion on the Baltimore harbor on Oct. 24. The concert was the eighth and final show on Steely Dan's tour as Fagen carries on the mantle of the band after Becker's passing on Sept. 3 at age 67. Fagen referred a couple times to "my partner Walter Becker," without explicitly acknowledging why he wasn't right there across the stage as usual. And midway through the show, he sang "Book of Liars," a song from Becker's 1994 solo album 11 Tracks of Whack that had long been a Steely Dan live staple, while dozens of photos of Becker played on a screen behind the band. After wrapping up the song, Fagen remembered a tourdate in Japan where the band's set lists had been printed with the song's title mistranslated to "Box of Leers." Jon Herington, a regular of Steely Dan's albums and tours since the band reformed in the '90s, is now the only guitarist in a band that has historically employed two or three guitars onstage. Steely Dan stuck to the most reliable favorites from its early albums, aside from "Book of Liars" and Fagen's 1982 solo track "New Frontier." "I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band," Fagen said in a statement after Becker's death. - Billboard, 10/25/17...... In related news, the Eagles performed in Glenn Frey's hometown of Detroit on Oct. 27 for the first time since their late band co-founder died on Jan. 18, 2016, at age 67. With Frey's widow Cindy, daughter Taylor and a corps of relatives cheering the group on, the Eagles celebrated Frey with a number of tributes including a moving rendition of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" by Frey's son and new Eagles member Deacon Frey. "What a treat for me to be back here in my dad's hometown. It's kinda awesome," Deacon said before acknowledging his relatives. After the song, Deacon looked upward and mouthed "That's for you, dad," as a sepia-toned image of his father appeared on the video screen behind the stage. Country star Vince Gill, who has also been touring with the Eagles, offered the Frey number "New Kid in Town" and told the crowd in Little Caesars Arena that it's an "honor to be in the hometown of my dear friend Glenn Frey and singing his songs for you." The Eagles, who launched their current tour in July, played the remaining date on their short tour at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry on Oct. 29, a private show that will be recorded and broadcast during Thanksgiving weekend on the group's limited-run SiriusXM Eagles Channel. - Billboard, 10/28/17...... Sammy Hagar was honored with a Humanitarian Award at the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards on Oct. 24 in Los Angeles. The "Red Rocker" accepted the award on behalf of his extensive philanthropic work with the Hagar Family Foundation, which supports a variety of programs benefiting disadvantaged children and families, including local food banks and hospitals, as well as other charitable efforts. After the presentation, Hagar said the award was "out of sight" and has particular significance since aerly in his career he may have dreamed of Grammys and musical fame but never a humanitarian honor like this. "To me, making money is fun. And it's not about how rich you are, it's about what you do with your money and how you live your life," he said. "I grew up poor as a motha, had nothing, and I'll take being wealthy over that anyway (but) it's really what you do with your money, it's not about how much money you have. It's about how you live your life and what you do with it." Also in attendance at the Loudwire awards were Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, and Eddie Money. - Billboard, 10/26/17...... Smokey Robinson is set to release his first solo holiday via Amazon Originals on Nov. 10. Entitled Chrismas Everyday, the set features 10 soulful songs, including seven seasonal favorites and three Robinson originals. "I was quite pleased when I was approached about doing a holiday album," Robinson said in a statement. "I love the feeling of Christmas, and these are some of my absolute favorite songs. Folks are going to be surprised by some of the arrangements," he added. The album, which features contributions from Take 6, The Dap-Kings, Mindi Abair and Trombone Shorty, is Robinson's first solo holiday offering, however he previously released two holiday albums with his former group, The Miracles, including the now Christmas classic, 1963's Christmas with The Miracles. In fact, the new album takes its name from a song originally included on that set. - Billboard, 10/27/17...... Paul McCartney paid tribute to Fats Domino with a post on his official website on Oct. 25, calling the late rock and roll icon a "huge influence" on the Beatles. "We were excited to meet Fats once in his home town of New Orleans," Sir Paul wrote. "He was wearing a huge star spangled diamond encrusted watch which was our first encounter with bling!" Macca continued: "As one of my favourite rock 'n' roll singers, I will remember him fondly and always think of him with that twinkle in his eye. I read that he had eight children. He himself was named Antoine. His kids were named Antoine III, Anatole, Andre, Antonio, Antoinette, Andrea, Anola and Adonica. Now that is pure Fats!" The inaugural class Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, who passed away of natural causes on Oct. 24 at the age of 89, sold over 65 million records over the course of his career, more than any other '50s-era artist other than Elvis Presley. - New Musical Express, 10/26/17...... Several friends and collaborators Kenny Rogers were on hand to honor the Country crossover superstar at his final concert appearance in Nashville, Tenn., at the Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 25. However the beloved 78-year-old entertainer was mostly a spectator as a mixture of current superstars, including Lady Antebellum, Justin Moore, Billy Currington and Alison Krauss, along with veteran entertainers Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Lionel Richie, The Judds and the Oak Ridge Boys, showcased some of their favorite musical moments of the Houston, TX native's career. The Oak Ridge Boys urged the sold-out crowd to sing along to Rogers and Dottie West's 1978 duet "Love or Something Like It," while The Judds deliverd a soaring version of "You Turn The Light On," a track from 1979's million-selling Kenny LP. After a brief intermission, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry proclaimed it was "Kenny Rogers Day" in Music City, Alison Krauss serenaded Rogers and the crowd with a gorgeous take on "Love The World Away," while Kris Kristofferson paid tribute to Kenny's cover of his song "Me and Bobby McGee." Rogers and Dolly Parton then came out to reminisce about their deep friendship, with Parton doing her best to try to embarrass her duet partner, getting laughs from Rogers and the audience. The two then performed their 2013 single "You Can't Make Old Friends," and Parton then surprised Rogers with a version of her "I Will Always Love You." The two wound up their performance career together with a nod back to 1983's million-selling "Islands In The Stream" before walking off the stage together. Though the date was Rogers' final Nashville appearance, the singer still has dates on the calendar for his "The Gambler's Last Deal" tour through December. Rogers says that saying goodbye has brought out the emotions. "It's sad on one hand, but on the other hand, you have to do it sooner or later. Either that, or die out there. That wasn't my choice," he said. The concert was filmed and recorded for broadcast and distribution at a later date. - Billboard, 10/26/17...... A 1963 Martin D-28 acoustic guitar played by Bob Dylan at many of his notable concerts in the 1970s is expected to fetch more than $300,000 when it goes on the auction block on Nov. 11 in Dallas. Heritige Auctions says it was the same guitar was used by Dylan at George Harrison's iconic "Concert of Bangladesh" in New York City, as well as on his Rolling Thunder Review tour from Oct. 1975 to May 1976. Larry Cragg, who was Dylan's guitar repairman at the time, bought the instrument from Dylan in 1977, and the original receipt, which is included in the offering, notes that it was purchased for $500. Though a musician himself, Cragg said he's never played the guitar and it's been kept in in a humidity- and temperature-controlled environment. "It's kind of past being a guitar now. It's the kind of thing that you'd think that people would put in a glass case or in a museum somewhere," says Cragg, who owns a San Francisco-based guitar rental shop and has also worked with the likes of Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana, Jefferson Airplane and Neil Young. A Fender Stratocaster played by Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he famously "went electric" sold for almost $1 million in 2013 at Christie's in New York City. That guitar was sold by a New Jersey family who had kept it for nearly 50 years after Dylan left it on a private plane. - AP, 10/25/17...... Composer Jim Steinman's "Bat Out of Hell: The Musical," based on Meat Loaf's 1977 album, officially opened on Oct. 25 at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre where it will remain in production until Dec. 24. The musical, directed by Jay Scheib, opened in Manchester, England, in February of this year and ran until the end of April, then moved to London's West End from June until late August. Steinman originally wrote Bat Out of Hell for the stage in 1975. It was performed once, under the name "Neverland," in 1977. Forty years and many script revisions later, "Bat Out of Hell: The Musical" is now about some rebellious teens in post-apocalyptic Obsidian, ruled by the tyrannical Falco. A character named Strat (Andrew Polec) falls in love with the leader's daughter, Raven (Christina Bennington), and sets out to rescue her. "People have such a love for the music, as we do," Bennington says. "It's so great that people feel liberated enough that they can come and sing along." Meat Loaf hasn't seen the production yet, however he met Polec and Bennington for the first time in Toronto in May where they were in town to promote the upcoming show. A CD of the musical was released on Oct. 20. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/26/17...... Singer Dick Noel, known as the "King of the Jingles" for his work on commercials, died on Oct. 27 in Escondido, Calif., after a long illness. He was 90. Mr. Noel was also known for his work with the Ray Anthony Orchestra and his appearances on TV shows in the 1960s hosted by Arthur Godfrey and Tennessee Ernie Ford. A Time for Love, his highly regarded 1978 album made in collaboration with pianist Larry Novak, featured world-weary renditions of such ballads as "Send in the Clowns" and "Here's That Rainy Day," and he was praised in the liner notes by famed jazz vocalist Mel Torme. The Brooklyn native also hosted several radio programs, sang regularly on The Ruth Lyons Show in Cincinnati and then joined Don McNeill's popular Breakfast Club, for which he was the lead singer on that Chicago-based radio show for years. After leaving Ford's variety program in 1965 Mr. Noel returned to Chicago, where he sang on a multitude of national TV and radio commercials. "The King of the Jingles" was said to have recorded 15,000 spots, including those for United Airlines and MacDonald's, during his career. He retired to the San Diego area in the late 1980s, and is survived by Nancy, his wife of 40 years, and daughters Patricia and Catherine and stepchildren Ken, Cliff and Laura. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/26/17.

Fats Domino, a rock pioneer and boogie-woogie piano legend who became one of rock 'n' roll's most iconic architects, passed away of natural causes in his home in New Orleans on Oct. 24. He was 89. Born Antoine Domino on Feb. 26, 1928 in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, Mr. Domino was raised in the same environment that produced Little Richard, Professor Longhair and Dr. John. His first professional appearance was at age 10, and he pounded away on the piano at local bars until 1949 when he was given a regular engagement by bandleader and and trumpeter Dave Bartholomew, which began a professional partnership that survived and flourished through the years, with Bartholomew becoming Mr. Domino's musical arranger and co-writer. That same year, Mr. Domino signed a record deal with Imperial Records, and his debut single, "The Fat Man," became his first million-seller. By 1955 he'd made a name for himself, produced some of his finest material and stockpiled a number of gold and multi-platinum singles. His pounding, up-tempo piano style made him a natural rock 'n' roller and he never had to adapt at all ("I wouldn't say I invented rock & roll but I don't remember anyone before me playing that stuff," he once said). Mr. Domino established himself with this new audience, both in terms of his concert appearances, and with a collection of rock classics that were uniquely his own, including "Ain't That a Shame," "I'm Walkin'," "Blueberry Hill" and "Margie." He also appeared in two early rock 'n' roll movies -- The Girl Can't Help It and Shake, Rattle and Roll.Though he was hugely popular and appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in 1957, he and his band were still denied lodging and forced to use segregated facilities while touring in the 1950s. Mr. Domino earned his last gold disc -- his twentieth -- in 1960 with "Walkin' to New Orleans," and the rest of the decade proved to be a dormant period. In 1967, Beatles manager Brian Epstein persuaded him to play his first British concert, at the Saville Theatre. Mr. Domino subsequently made further U.K. visits, and also found his career re-activated by the '50s rock 'n' roll revival boom, aided by a small part in the 1973 rockumentary Let the Good Times Roll. Mr. Domino then went into semi-retirement, living in luxury in New Orleans with his wife and eight children, but still playing regular dates in Las Vegas and toured the world. After leaving Imperial, Mr. Domino recorded albums for labels including Mercury, Warner Bros., Atlantic and Broadmoor, releasing his final major-label album, Christmas is a Special Day, in 1993. A health scare eventually took him off the road in 1991, and his stately New Orleans home was destroyed in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina when flood waters swamped the Lower 9th Ward, wiping out most of his possession and forcing a helicopter evacuation by the Coast Guard. Mr. Domino was one of the initial inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 alongside such fellow icons as Elvis, James Brown, Little Richard and Chuck Berry, and he received the National Medal of Arts from former Pres. Bill Clinton in 1998 and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. On Oct. 25, his family released a statement saying that he "passed away peacefully at home surrounded by those he loved and those who loved him." "His music reached across all boundaries and carried him to all corners of the world," it continues, before quoting lyrics from his 1960 song "Rising Sun." Funeral arrangements are pending. - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock/Billboard, 10/25/17.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Stevie Wonder reaffirmed his support for the movement of protesting against police brutality and racial injustices in America by kneeling while performing the national anthem before the start of the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix race in Austin, Tex., on Oct. 22. Wonder, who performed the song with this trusty harmonica, told the audience, "I've never seen the color of my skin nor the color of your skin. What I want you to know is that we are in a race, we here, all of us here, a race against time -- it's time for all the leaders, all the people, all of us to come together in the spirit of unity so we can move this world to a positive form." Many in the audience also reportedly dropped to a knee to support the cause. Wonder also knelt for his performance of the national anthem at New York's Global Citizen Festival on Sept. 23. Meanwhile in other Stevie Wonder news, the Motown legend is moving his annual "House Full of Toys" Christmas benefit show to the Staples Center in Los Angeles after a 21-year run at various L.A. venues, including the Microsoft Theater, the Forum in Inglewood and the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City. The 2017 benefit, which is set for Dec. 10, will feature Wonder performing works from his iconic 1972 album Talking Book and his 1973 album Innervisions. Wonder launched his charity show, which benefits children, people with disabilities and families in need during the holidays, in 1996 at the now defunct Sunset Strip House of Blues. - Billboard, 10/24/17...... Billy Joel and his wife Alexis welcomed their second daughter, a 7 lb., 3 oz. girl named Remy Anne, into the world at 7:50 p.m. on Oct. 22. "Alexis and Remy are doing well, and everyone is thrilled," a rep for Joel said. Joel and Alexis are also the parents of another girl, Della Rose, and Joel has a daughter, Alexa Ray, with his ex-wife Christie Brinkley. Meanwhile, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Oct. 19, Joel revealed that he is extending his Madison Square Garden residency through the new year, the 48th of his current residency there and the 91st of his career at the legendary venue. "We're gonna go into 2018," Joel said. "I thought it would kind of taper off after four or five years, but they're buying tickets faster now than they were at the beginning." Joel also revealed that his songs are based on real people (Davy, who's still in the Navy, in "Piano Man," for instance), and that his favorite Bruce Springsteen song is "Meeting Across the River" before instructing Kimmel's house band on how to play the song so he could do his best Springsteen impression. "It's a very atmospheric Springsteen song," Joel said. The Piano Man added that he would consider performing an intimate Broadway show, as his pal Springsteen is currently doing. "We talked about it with Bruce last night. I said, 'Why don't we switch it up once in a while? You come do the Garden, and I'll do your gig for a couple days.'" - Billboard, 10/23/17...... As Dolly Parton releases her first album of music exclusively for children, I Believe in You, the Country music icon has donated $1 million to anderbilt University Children's Hospital in Nashville. "I love children," Parton told reporters on a recent visit to the hospital. "I've always been involved in one way or another with children's charities or with children in general, because I love little kids. I'm from a big family of children." Parton also heads the Imagination Library, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote early childhood literacy by giving children age-appropriate books to read. A portion of the sales of I Believe In You is benefiting the Imagination Library. - Billboard, 10/23/17...... Speaking of County music queens, Loretta Lynn made a suprise appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Medallion Ceremony on Oct. 22 to celebrate the induction of new members Alan Jackson, Don Schlitz and the late Jerry Reed. It was Lynn's first Nashville appearance since suffering a stroke earlier in 2017, and the legendary "Coal Miners' Daughter" songstress received a standing ovation from the capacity crowd. Lynn, who inducted Jackson, recalled telling him early in his career that he would become one of the greatest singers in country music, and said "You haven't let me down." Jerry Reed's fellow Georgian, "Everything Is Beautiful" singer Ray Stevens, helped induct Reed with a humorous rendition of "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and a faithful romp through "East Bound and Down," a 1977 hit from Smokey and the Bandit. - Billboard, 10/23/17...... As Meat Loaf's legendary 1977 LP Bat Out of Hell celebrates its 40th anniversary on Oct. 21, the album's producer, Todd Rundgren, said he initially saw the songs as a spoof of Bruce Springsteen when they were rehearsed by Meat Loaf and his songwriting partner, Jim Steinman. "Because the songs were sort of very basic changes, the themes were all... [Laughs.]," Rundgren recalled. "By the time it was the '70s, the themes were kind of nostalgic. Even though Bruce Springsteen would represent them as still being real, the iconography was still out of the '50s, you know? It was switchblades and leather jackets and motorcycles and that sort of junk. So I saw the whole presentation as being a spoof of Bruce Springsteen, and that's why I decided to do it," Rundgren added. - Billboard, 10/20/17...... A series of tweets from Bob Seger's Twitter account have indicated the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is on his way to recovering after undergoing surgery for a pinched vertebra in his neck recently. "Bob is on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery on Friday to address the medical issue causing the postponement of his tour," according to an Oct. 23 tweet. "According to his doctors surgery 'couldn't have gone better.' Bob wants to thank all his fans for the outpouring of well wishes and support... We hope to have news regarding dates for the tour soon," read two additional tweet. Seger and his Silver Bullet Band tour was initially set to run through Nov. 17, the release date for upcoming album I Knew You When. - Billboard, 10/23/17...... Bob Dylan paid tribute to his former touring partner and Traveling Wilburys bandmate Tom Petty on Oct. 21 during a concert in Broomfield, Col., by closing his encore with a cover of Petty's 1991 single "Learning to Fly." Dylan previously issued a statement following Petty's death after suffering cardiac arrest on Oct. 2. "It's shocking, crushing news," Dylan said. "I thought the world of Tom. He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I'll never forget him." Petty and his band the Heartbreakers backed Dylan on the latter's 1986 True Confessions Tour, and in 1988 Dylan, Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne co-founded the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. Meanshile one day earlier, Petty fans participated in a "Tom Petty Memorial Vampire Walk" down Ventura Blvd. on Oct. 19, 2017 in Sherman Oaks, Calif. The event was a goofy reference to a line from Petty's "Free Fallin'": "All the vampires walking through the valley move west down Ventura Boulevard." - New Musical Express/Stereogum.com, 10/22/17...... As more women come forward in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harrassment scandal, Rod Stewart's current wife Penny Lancaster has revealed that she lost her virginity to a rapist who drugged and assaulted her when she was first starting out as a model. On Oct. 19 the blonde beauty appeared on the U.K. talk show Loose Women, on which she is a panellist, as the co-hosts discussed the viral #MeToo social media campaign, exposing instances of sexual abuse or harassment. Penny revealed her attack happened when she was just a teenager and beginning her modeling career, after she was invited to join a man she had previously worked with at a fashion industry event. Lancaster said she was offered a spiked drink by the man, and fighting back tears, said she "found myself face down on the bed with him on top of me." 46, was too scared to tell her parents about the assault, because she was convinced they would chastise her for agreeing to go to his home. "He was a client I had worked with, and he promised to introduce me to other people," she continued. "I was just naive, and I trusted him." - WENN.com, 10/19/17...... Charlie Daniels released his new memoir, Never Look at the Empty Seats, on Oct. 24, and the Southern rock legend says he's been writing the book on and off for the past 20 years. "I just started writing down my memories. As I went along, I started putting it into book form," Daniels says. "I just kept writing, and interesting things would keep happening. I could never find a place to end it until I was told that I was going to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame. I thought what a great place to stop it, so that's what I did. It starts with my earliest remembrances, being born and bred in North Carolina, up through the night of the Country Music Hall of Fame induction," he remarked of the event from October 2016 that caps off the book. The book also details many of the high points of Daniels' career, and a few of the lows, such as his memories of the evening of Oct. 20, 1977, when he received news that some members of his good friends Lynyrd Skynyrd had been killed in a plane crash. "We went out on stage night that night knowing he had some friends that were killed, but not knowing who they were," Daniels says. "We just took it out on the music, and did our thing, and worked through it. It was definitely a sad night." - Billboard, 10/20/17...... George Young, the brother of AC/DC's Malcolm and Angus Young who found fame as a member of 1960s group The Easybeats before later producing some of AC/DC's earliest albums including 1976's High Voltage and 1977's Let There Be Rock, died on Oct. 22 at the age of 70. Born in Scotland in 1946, George Young emigrated to Australia at a young age before becoming a member of The Easybeats, who were hailed as Australia's answer to the Beatles. The band became best known for their hit "Friday On My Mind," broke up in 1970 before they were later inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005. "It is with pain in our heart that we have to announce the passing of our beloved brother and mentor George Young," a statement from AC/DC said on Oct. 22. "As a musician, songwriter, producer, advisor and much, much more, you could not ask for a more dedicated and professional man. You could not ask for a finer brother. We will always remember him with gratitude and hold him close to our hearts." - New Musical Express, 10/23/17...... Al Hurricane, known as the "Godfather of New Mexico music" for developing a distinct sound bridging the state's unique Hispanic traditions with country and rock, died on Oct. 22 after a battle with prostate cancer. He was 81. Born Alberto Nelson Sanchez on July 10, 1936, in the tiny village of Dixon, Mr. Hurricane began his professional music career by singing in Albuquerque Old Town restaurants before releasing his first songs, "Lobo" and "Racer" under the band Al Hurricane & the Night Rockers in 1962. Mr. Hurricane recorded more than 30 albums and received a number of awards while traveling internationally. Following the 1980 Santa Fe prison riot -- one of the most violent prison riots in U.S. history -- Mr. Hurricane released the song "(El Corrido De) La Prison De Santa Fe" which was a narrative about the conditions that led to the uprising. - AP, 10/23/17...... Howard Carroll, the lead guitarist for the influential and Grammy Award-winning gospel group The Dixie Hummingbirds has died at the age of 92. The group started as a quartet of students formed by James B. Davis in a Greenville, S.C., high school in 1928. The group toured widely and recorded a cappella for the Decca label in the 1930s and then relocated to Philadelphia in the 1940s. After World War II, as the sound of gospel changed, the Hummingbirds added bass, drums and guitar supplied by Carroll. They performed on Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like a Rock" in 1973 and won a Grammy for their own version. - AP, 10/20/17...... Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his portrayal of the sharp-tongued butler in the TV sitcoms Soap and Benson, died on Oct. 24 at his home in Los Angeles after battling prostate cancer. He was 89. Born fatherless on Nov. 30, 1927, in St. Louis, Mr. Guillaume was one of four children. His mother named him Robert Peter Williams; when he became a performer he adopted Guillaume, a French version of Williams, believing the change would give him distinction. After working as a postal employee, department store clerk and motorman, Mr. Guillaume enrolled at St. Louis University, excelling in philosophy and Shakespeare, and then at Washington University (St. Louis) where a music professor trained the young man's superb tenor singing voice. After serving as an apprentice at theaters in Aspen, Colo., and Cleveland, he toured with several Broadway shows and began appearing on sitcoms such as The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son. Then came Soap and a spin-off of his butler character on Benson. His period of greatest success was marred by tragedy when his 33-year-old son Jacques died of AIDS. He earned a Tony nomination in 1977 for his role as Nathan Detroit in the first all-black version of "Guys and Dolls," and became the first African-American to sing the title role of "Phantom of the Opera," appearing with an all-white cast in Los Angeles. It was while playing in "Guys and Dolls" that he was asked to test for the role of an acerbic butler of a governor's mansion in "Soap," a primetime TV sitcom that satirized soap operas. "The minute I saw the script, I knew I had a live one," he recalled in 2001. "Every role was written against type, especially Benson, who wasn't subservient to anyone. To me, Benson was the revenge for all those stereotyped guys who looked like Benson in the '40s and '50s (movies) and had to keep their mouths shut." The character became so popular that ABC was persuaded to launch a spinoff, simply called Benson, which lasted from 1979 to 1986. The series made Guillaume wealthy and famous, but he regretted that Benson's wit had to be toned down to make him more appealing as the lead star. - AP, 10/24/17.

A song written by Bruce Springsteen for the first Harry Potter film in 2001 but rejected by the movie's producers has appeared online on the Springsteen torrent site Jungleland.com. Springsteen reportedly became inspired to write a song for the film after reading the first Harry Potter novel to his son in the late 1990s. The song, called "I'll Stand By You Always," is part of a 13-track compilation of mostly rare soundtrack songs by The Boss titled Odds and Sods. - New Musical Express, 10/19/17...... Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt were honored at the annual Little Kids Rock benefit show at PlayStation Theater in New York City on Oct. 18. Costello and Raitt are longtime supporters of Little Kids Rock, which aims to provide music education to public schools. "In these days of discord, dissonance and distraction, I'm constantly reminded by a truth that is as old as the human family itself: music can bring people together in ways that virtually nothing else can," said Little Kids Rock founder David Fish, who has raised $1.5 million dollars for the LKR foundation through the series of tribute shows. "There's been study after study proving the benefits of music education and exposure to the arts makes all the difference," Bonnie Raitt told the attendees. Before launching into a spirited cover of Aretha Franklin's 1967 track "Baby I Love You," Raitt expanded on the theme of the evening: "Here's to the power of a beautiful ballad to break hearts and heal." - Billboard, 10/19/17...... Dick Clark Productions, the organizer of the American Music Awards, announced on Oct. 18 that Motown legend Diana Ross will be the recipient of the American Music Award of Lifetime Achievement during the 2017 AMA on Nov. 19 in Los Angeles. Ross, who as a member of The Supremes became the best-selling Motown act of the 1960s and released several additional chart-toppers during her decades-long solo career, is a seven-time AMA winner and hosted the AMAs in 1986 and 1987. "I have endless memories of all the years that I have appeared on the American Music Awards," Ross says in a statement. "It started with Dick Clark and the Caravan of Stars and American Bandstand. It was Dick Clark who said, 'Music is the soundtrack of our lives.' So true. I am so excited to be receiving this honorable award." The AMAs will be broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 19 at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC. - Billboard, 10/18/17...... In light of the alleged sexual harassment and abuse revelations by some powerful figures in the movie industry that have made headlines recently, '60s and '70s hitmaker Sir Tom Jones has revealed that it also exists in the music industry and can happen even to men, too. "Things have always happened in the music industry as well," Jones said in an Oct. 18 interview with the BBC Radio 5. "There's been people complaining about publicists and different things they've been expected to do to get a record contract, just like a film contract. There were a few things like that. But you avoid it. You just walk out| But what's tried on women is tried on men as well," he added. Speaking specifically of his own experience, Jones said: "It wasn't bad, just somebody tried to pull| it was a question and I said 'No thank you.'" - NME, 10/19/17...... Legendary rocker Tom Petty was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Pacific Palisades, Calif., on Oct. 16. Petty, who passed away from cardiac arrest on Oct. 2 at age 66, is buried in the same temple and meditation garden where his good friend, former Beatles member George Harrison, was laid to rest in 2001. Petty's daughter AnnaKim posted a series of photos in Instagram as she experienced the ceremony, including one of herself beneath a black & white picture of Petty on a stand above a flower arrangement with the caption "the dark of the sun we will stand together" and another that read "My beautiful twin star??I promise not to be sad and to follow my heart you live on in your art." - Billboard, 10/17/17...... In other Petty-related news, it has been revealed that Petty offered what would become his first Top 10 Hit -- the 1979 Damn the Torpedoes track "Don't Do Me Like That" -- to the J. Geils Band, but the band passed on it. J. Geils singer Peter Wolf told Rolling Stone that "maybe we thought we had the songs for our album... We can do it for the next one," but adds that that band did like the song. Petty reportedly didn't think the song was right for him and his group the Heartbreakers for some reason, but was eventually convinced he should record it by Damn the Torpedoes producer Jimmy Iovine. In a strange twist of fate, Peter Wolf's new band, the Midnight Travellers, actually opened for Petty on his final tour. - Stereogum.com, 10/19/17...... Meanwhile, Ringo Starr says he was totally shocked to hear about the death of his good friend Tom Petty on Oct. 2, the day after the tragedy of the lone sniper in Las Vegas. Ringo says he had been booked to play in Las Vegas on Oct. 2, and on the same day he learned of Petty's death. "It was a shock. When you first hear it, it's like, 'What...?!' Like when I heard Elvis was dead; It's like, 'What?!' It has to sink in. It was very sad. That's all I can say, really. God Bless him and his family," said Starr, who occasionally collaborated with Petty and notably appeared in Petty's video for "I Won't Back Down" in 1989. Starr says he hopes to return to Las Vegas under much better vibes when he and his All-Starr Band kick off a fall tour supporting his new album, Give More Love, with an 8-show residency beginning Oct. 13 at Planet Hollywood. His tour will continue through Nov. 16 in New Jersey. "We're gonna try to play those shows with a lot of peace and love and try to raise the spirits," the eternally optimistic Ringo said. The deluxe version of Give More Love features a newly recorded version of his 1972 hit "Back Off Boogaloo" built atop recently discovered session tapes. "We just got lucky with that one," Ringo says. "I'm going through a lot of tape and we're looking to see if anything else is on them. So far we haven't found anything as important as that, but I might find something else on there." - Billboard, 10/14/17...... Bryan Singer, the director of the forthcoming Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, has shared a photo of lead actor Rami Malek performing as Mercury on Instagram. "Couldn't help myself and had to post this iPhone pic," Singer posted in a caption accompanying the photo. Singer is best known for directing the X-Men franchise, while Malek is a relative unknown, having previously acted in TV series, Mr Robot. - New Musical Express, 10/17/17...... For the first time in its history, Playboy magazine will feature a solo male on its cover -- recently deceased Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. For its Nov./Dec. 2017 issue, a 39-year-old Hefner will appear on the cover in a 1965 portrait by photographer Larry Gordon. "Hef" will be the eleventh man to ever grace the publication's cover, but none until now have been featured without a female model present. The first six pages will include a piece from Hefner's son Cooper, as well as a celebration of the magazine mogul's life. Playboy issued a statment saying the new issue is "a prelude to a forthcoming 100+ page special tribute dedicated to the man who changed the world with his visionary magazine and company." - Billboard, 10/19/17...... Tina Turner was on hand at an announcement party to help launch a new musical based on her life and career, "Tina," which is scheduled to open Apr. 17, 2018, at London's Aldwych Theatre. Turner joined the actress who will be portraying her, Adrienne Warren onstage for a rare performance for guests at the party. "Growing up watching Tina, I knew how to shake my hips before I could tie my shoes," said Warren, who was nominated for a Tony in 2016 for her featured role in the musical "Shuffle Along." "I am elated, honored and humbled. Meeting and working with Tina is and will always be one of the great moments of my life," she added. The musical "Tina" will trace Turner's life from her humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tenn., through her stormy marriage to Ike Turner, her hard-won independence and her ultimate emergence to become one of the top-selling female recording artists of all time. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/19/17...... Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner is reportedly no longer speaking to the author of a new biography about him, Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine, after feeling "betrayed" by the book's writer, Joe Hagan. Wenner is reportedly upset that the book delves into his personal life, including his sexual history, marriage, drug use, and working relationships, and has dis-invited Hagan from scheduled promotional appearances, including one at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which Wenner co-founded. Two earlier would-be Wenner biographers had book deals fall through after the magazine mogul withdrew his cooperation. Sticky Fingers will hit stores on Oct. 24. - Spin.com, 10/18/17...... "Run James Run," one of the two new tracks featured on Brian Wilson's new solo anthology Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology, was inspired by guitar icon Jeff Beck after Beck mentioned that he also owned a number of 1932 Deuce Coupe hot rods. "While Brian and I were driving home from the studio, he stated that in his opinion, 'What the world needs now is one last great car song!'" recalls Wilson's collaborator Joe Thomas. "The next day, we started laying the tracks down." The song's title comes from a tune Wilson wrote in the '60s, which he hoped would become a James Bond theme. When that didn't happen, the song because the instrumental "Pet Sounds." Years later, Wilson revived the title and Thomas and Wilson finished the song. Playback dropped on Sept. 22 via Rhino Records. - Billboard, 10/18/17...... In a new interview with Northern Ireland's Belfast Telegraph,Billy Joel revealed that he is set to become a father for the third time. The 68-year-old Piano Man and his current wife, Alexis Roderick are expecting their second child in November after becoming the parents of their two-year-old daughter, Della Rose. Joel told the paper that Della Rose is "pretty good. She sleeps through the night... I hope the next one will." Joel and Roderick have been together since 2009, and the musician made her his fourth wife in 2015. Joel is also dad to singer Alexa Ray Joel, his 31-year-old daughter from his second marriage to supermodel Christie Brinkley. - WENN.com 10/18/17...... Legendary rock guitarist and bandleader John McLaughlin says he plans to retire from touring as he prepares for the start of his final North American run "The Meeting of the Spirits Tour" with his band the 4th Dimension that begins Nov. 1 in Buffalo, N.Y. "I think one of the most catastrophic things that could happen would be to go on tour and have a really bad hair day where I'm not really able to play," the Mahavishnu Orchestra mastermind said in a new interview with Billboard. "That's a nightmare for me. I don't want to get confronted with that situation, so I told the guys in the band, and some months ago, that this is the goodbye tour." McLaughlin and company have dates booked through Dec. 9 in Los Angeles, with Jimmy Herring and the Invisible Whip on the tour and playing an encore set of Mahavishnu Orchestra material together. While McLaughlin may be giving up the road, he isn't giving up on music altogether; he has just released a new album called Live@Ronnie Scott's. - Billboard, 10/18/17...... Cher has just signed on to join the cast of the Abba-inspired Mamma Mia! sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Cher teased out the news in mid-October with a series of tweets, although the details of the character she will play are being kept under wraps. In addition to Cher's role -- her first big-screen appearance since 2010's Burlesque with Christina Aguilera -- the movie will reunite original Mamma Mia! cast members Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/16/17...... Speaking to the UK's Daily Telegraph,Robert Plant says it's extremely unlikely that Led Zeppelin will ever reunite again. "You can't ever really go back... It's tough enough repeating yourself with something that's a year old, never mind 49 years old," Plant said. "I've got to keep moving." Plant fronted Led Zep until their split in 1980, before a subsequent reunion in 2007 saw him playing with John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page once more at the Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert, where they were joined by the son of the late John Bonham on drums. He is currently gearing up to tour behind his new album, Carry Fire. - NME, 10/16/17.

Monday, October 9, 2017

Such '70s artists as Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Arlo Guthrie and the Doors drummer John Densmore are set to headline a benefit concert for Native American activist Leonard Peltier on Nov. 6 at the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa, Okla. Peltier made headlines during a deadly shootout with F.B.I. agents on an Indian reservation in 1975, resulting in the death of two agents who were murdered execution-style. Although no one knows who fired first and no one actually saw Peltier kill the officials, he was sentenced to back-to-back life terms and has served 40 years. In September, the 73-year-old Peltier underwent sudden heart surgery at a high-security prison in Florida. Civil rights attorney David Frankel has been hired by the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee to help fight for Peltier's freedom, and says Peltier's poor health could help his chances for parole. Peltier "represented the F.B.I.'s last chance to obtain a conviction" in the reservation murders after two Native Americans were acquitted, author Peter Matthiessen argued in his 1983 book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. However former F.B.I. agent Ed Woods argues that "Whether planning to or not, Peltier was there and participated in the murder of two federal agents." Also participating in the benefit will be Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings and Joe Ely, with video messages from the likes of Peter Gabriel, Tom Morello and Steven Van Zandt. - Billboard, 10/13/17...... Bob Seger has announced he plans to go ahead with the release of his latest album, I Knew You When, despite being forced to cancel the remaining 19 dates on a tour with his Silver Bullet Band behind the new album due to a medical issue. Seger has announced two versions of the album will be released on Nov. 17 -- a 10-track standard edition that will include his recently released cover of Lou Reed's "Busload of Faith" as well as a version of Leonard Cohen's "Democracy," and a deluxe version that features three additional tracks, including "Glenn Song," a tribute to his late friend Glenn Frey that Seger released via his website in January on the first anniversary of Frey's passing. - Billboard, 10/13/17...... Robert Plant, who released his latest solo LP, Carry Fire, on Oct. 13, says the recent passing of Tom Petty "was premature, by far," and that Petty's untimely passing reminded him of the death of his former Led Zeppelin bandmate, drummer John Bonham. "I remember we lost John Bonham 37 years ago and that was the end of Led Zeppelin really," Plant says. "We were only kids then and there's no amount of talking or paying respects that can bring anybody back, especially somebody who goes so sadly with so many years left to roll really." Bonham's sister, Deborah, has recently received permission for a bronze statue in his honor to be erected in his hometown of Redditch, Worcestershire, in time to commemorate what would have been his 70th birthday next May. - Billboard, 10/13/17...... Speaking of Tom Petty, the late rock legend's 1993 Greatest Hits album is one of three albums vying for the top spot on Billboard's Hot 200 album chart for the week ending Oct. 12. The set re-entered the chart for the week ending Oct. 5 at No. 2, mostly powered by digital albums: 44,000 downloads vs. a little more than 7,000 in CD sales. Petty also currently populates 14 of the top 25 spots on Billboard's Top 50 Hot Rock Songs chart, with "Free Fallin'," "I Won't Back Down," "Mary Jane's Last Dance," "Learning to Fly" and "You Don't Know How It Feels" leading the way. - Billboard, 10/11/17...... In other Billboard chart action, Michael Jackson has just earned his 30th charting album on the Hot 200 with his new Halloween-inspired album Scream. The LP, which dropped on Sept. 29, has bowed on the chart at No. 33, making it Jackson's 16th Top 40 set. Scream's tracklist "reflects The King of Pop's affection for this time of the year," according to a press release from Jackson's label Sony, "and its themes of costumes and disguise, darkness and light, character transformations and surprise. It's the perfect soundtrack for Halloween/October parties." Scream moved 14,000 units -- 11,000 of those from traditional album sales. The set includes familiar Jackson hits like the title track (with sister Janet Jackson), "Thriller" and the No. 1 hit "Dirty Diana." - Billboard, 10/13/17...... The Who frontman Roger Daltrey has announced he'll publish a memoir about his storied life that is scheduled to be published in August of 2018. On Oct. 12, Daltrey confirmed that he has a book deal with Blink Publishing in the UK, and Henry Hold and Co. in the US. In addition to his tenure with the Who, Daltrey says the book will cover his solo career, and focus "particularly on how Britain has changed since he was born in 1944." Meanwhile, in a recent interview Daltrey left the future of live shows by the Who up in the air: "We're doing remarkably well for where we are but we just don't know. If we get through this year, we're gonna need some time off. We'll re-think it after that." Daltrey and his fellow Who co-founder Pete Townshend ended their latest tour in August. - New Musical Express, 10/12/17...... Two surviving members of the Velvet Underground, John Cale and Moe Tucker, recently reunited at the "Grammy Salute to Music Legends" concert to perform the band's classic 1967 track "I'm Waiting For The Man" from the debut VU album. March 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the band's seminal The Velvet Underground & Nico LP, and on their performance of "I'm Waiting for the Man," Cale played a Kurzweil keyboard while Tucker played a woodblock along with Cale's backing band. Tucker and Cale are the only surviving members of the Lou Reed-led band. The "Grammy Salute to Music Legends" concert also honors the likes of Sly Stone, Nina Simone and Dionne Warwick. - NME, 10/12/17...... Bruce Springsteen officially kicked off his 18-week Broadway residency, "Springsteen On Broadway," at Walter Kerr Theatre on Oct. 12 New York City, and critical reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Rolling Stone called the show an "intimate triumph," while the BBC described it as "intimate and personal," with reporter Elysa Gardner noting that the residency is "neither a musical nor a concert in the tradition of his previous solo tours." "The two-hour program is also, in its distinctly intimate, sometimes darkly earnest fashion, an affirmation of the earnest showmanship and vivid storytelling that Springsteen's rock and roll shares with musical theatre," Gardner wrote. The New York Post noted that Springsteen's show has been "reducing its audiences to tears," while New York Times critic Jesse Green noted the show was "real and intense... a greatest anti-hits concert." "Many of the songs Mr. Springsteen has chosen to sing are less familiar and more meditative than his chart-toppers, and those that were chart-toppers are almost unrecognizable," Green observed. The production sees Springsteen playing guitar, piano and harmonica, and singing duets with his wife, Patti Scialfa, and first grew out of an acoustic concert at the White House in the final weeks of the Barack Obama administration. Among the celebrities in attendance at the first show were Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Edward Norton, Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, Brian Williams, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Steven Van Zandt. - NME/The Hollywood Reporter, 10/13/17...... Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain released a new solo holiday album, Unsung Noel, on Oct. 13, and says his lifelong love of Christmas and a more recent passion for Christian music led him to record the set. "I wanted to make an album that really celebrates the Nativity and the birth of Christ and the coming of Christ and the things I thought were missing on a lot of the Christian albums," says Cain, who released his first Christian album, What God Wants To Hear, in 2016. That particular mission led him to become "sort of a detective," delving deep into topics he wanted to address in his own material for the album. Cain says he wrote most of his original songs during Journey's 2016 summer tour, "and I hit on a nice combination of songs... It was just something I felt I could do. It was very positive." Cain says that Journey "will have to get through our differences" before announcing plans for 2018, referring to a recent squabble with Journey guitarist Neal Schon when Cain and other members paid a visit to Pres. Donald Trump's White House, but he's confident that will happen. "We'll get through them," Cain says. "Something like that wasn't the first time we've come at odds with each other. It's been 36 years now. But I think time heals all things, and you move on." - Billboard, 10/11/17...... On Oct. 10, Paul McCartney penned a letter to a Texas veterinary supply company urging it to provide proper care for some 150 greyhounds living in squalor in dirt-floored pens near Austin. "I join my friends at PETA in asking you to pay these greyhounds back, and to let them retire from the dirt-floored, barren conditions in which they are kept isolated and alone, some of them cringing at the footfall of the person coming to take their blood again and again," McCartney wrote. "They had a hard life on the racetrack, and they will die without love if left where they are. I've seen pictures of how they have suffered from nails that have grown back into their paw pads, as well as from infected gums and rotted teeth, and I'm told that some have apparently even died from a lack of water." Sir Paul wrote his plea to Patterson Veterinary Supply, the parent company of The Pet Blood Bank, which provides canine blood products for veterinary transfusions across the country. It began in 2004 initially seeking volunteers and using a bloodmobile, but that did not bring in enough blood and the company turned to retired greyhounds it houses in a kennel on a private farm outside Austin, Texas. McCartney, who in the letter also referenced his former pet dog Martha which was immortalized in the 1968 Beatles song "Martha My Dear," has been a longtime supporter of PETA, participating in interviews on the animal rights organization's website and appearing in pro-vegetarian ads. - Billboard, 10/10/17...... Tech giant Apple Computer has scrapped a planned 10-part Elvis Presley biopic that was to have been produced by Hollywood studio The Weinstein Co. after the explosive scandal involving that company's co-founder Harvey Weinstein, who was fired from the company following allegations of decades-long sexual harassment. The series, dubbed Elvis, was first announced in Sept. 2016, and was to be produced by TWC in partnership with the Presley estate. The estate allowed producers access to Presley's entire music catalog, access to film at his Graceland home as well as his cars and clothing. The drama was to be based on rock critic Dave Marsh's 1982 book Elvis. Presley's ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, was set to exec produce alongside Harvey Weinstein, Jerry Schilling and David Glasser. A writer and star had not been attached, and Elvis was one of four scripted originals that Apple was reportedly planning, including biopics on Michael Jackson, Prince and Frank Sinatra. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/9/17...... Former The Scorpions and U.F.O. guitarist Michael Schenker will kick off a new "Michael Schenker Fest" tour of the U.K. on Nov. 2 at London O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, also visiting Sheffield O2 Academy on Nov. 3, Manchester O2 Ritz on Nov. 4, and Hull City Hall on Nov. 5. The project reunites the original Michael Schenker Group vocalists - Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley, plus MSG musicians Steve Mann (guitar, keys), Chris Glen (bass) and Ted McKenna (drums). Says Schenker, "It's a miracle that after all these years, a tour like this will take place with the original band members of M.S.G.... To being able to re-experience, and for the new audience to get a feel of what it was like, is incredibly enjoyable." - Noble PR, 10/10/17...... Bob Schiller, an Emmy-winning TV comedy writer whose credits reach back to the infancy of the television medium, died on Oct. 10 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 98. Mr. Schiller's writing credits include I Love Lucy, Maude, All in the Family and The Carol Burnett Show, among others. - The Washington Post, 10/13/17.

Queen has released previously unheard versions of "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" to mark the 40th anniversary of their seminal 1977 album News Of The World. The new versions of the iconic tracks will form part of the "Raw sessions" disc of Queen's upcoming 40th Anniversary re-issue of News Of The World, which is set for release on Nov. 17. The new tracks feature never-before-heard lead vocals, along with new lead guitar parts which were changed during the recording of the album. On "We Will Rock You," guitarist Brian May is heard deploying a markedly different guitar solo, while "We Are The Champions" ends with a fade-out, as opposed to its more recognisable abrupt end. - NME, 10/6/17...... Paul McCartney is featured in a "making of" short on the new DVD and Blu-ray release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which hit stores on Oct. 3. In the film, McCartney plays Uncle Jack, a pirate relative of Capt. Jack Sparrow. In keeping with the tone of the film, it's a very light-hearted role. In addition to talking about his role, McCartney also does some singing, both in the movie and in an extra version on the DVD recorded when there was silence on the set and the only thing heard is McCartney's voice. This extra version is not in the movie. - Billboard, 10/4/17............ On Oct. 5 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominations for their class of 2018, with '70s acts the Moody Blues, J. Geils Band, the Cars, Dire Straits, Judas Priest, MC5 and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan among the 19 legendary acts making the shortlist. It was the first nomination to the Cleveland-based hall and museum ever for the Moody Blues, Dire Straits and Judas Priest, with the J. Geils Band getting its fifth nomination, the Cars and MC5 getting their third nod, and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan getting their second. Other nominees included Radiohead, Kate Bush, Rage Against The Machine, Bon Jovi, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, LL Cool J, the Meters, Nina Simone, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Link Wray and the Zombies. The top five vote getters will be decided by a public vote (through Dec. 5 at the RRHOF's website), along with input from over 800 artists, historians and music industry insiders. The winners will be announced in December and inducted on Apr. 14 at a ceremony at Public Hall in Cleveland, Oh. To be eligible for entry into the RRHOF, each potential nominee's first single or album had to be released in 1992 or earlier. - New Musical Express, 10/5/17...... Tributes continue to pour in for late 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Tom Petty, who passed away after suffering cardiac arrest in his Malibu home on Oct. 2. Between the third and fourth quarters of the Florida Gators and LSU Tigers college game on Oct. 7, a packed crowd of 9,000 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium sang Petty's smash "I Won't Back Down" in tribute to the legendary musician. "This one's for you, @TomPetty," the Gators' official account tweeted. On Oct. 4, Bruce Springsteen opened the first preview of his Broadway show in New York with a dedication to his friend and fellow rock icon Petty. The two-hour show started with The Boss standing on stage dressed all in black, dedicating the show to the late musician, sending his thoughts and prayers to Petty's family and his bandmates, the Heartbreakers (his Broadway show officially opens on Oct. 12). On Oct. 7, country star Jason Aldean, the performer onstage during the recent tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, performed Petty's "I Won't Back Down" on NBC's Saturday Night Live in a nod to both Petty and the Vegas victims. Meanwhile, Petty's U.S. music sales have increased 6,781% following his death, with huge increases in sales, streams and airplay of his back catalog surging as fans mourn the singer-songwriter. On Oct. 2-3, Petty's catalog of albums and digital songs (including his work with the Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch and supergroup Traveling Wilburys) sold 218,000 combined albums and song downloads -- up from just 3,000 sold in the previous two days. Petty's top-selling albums following his passing were his Greatest Hits (32,000), Wildflowers (4,000), Anthology: Through the Years (4,000), Damn the Torpedoes (3,000) and Full Moon Fever (2,000). His top-five-selling songs for that same Oct. 2-3 period were: "Free Fallin'" (21,000 downloads), "I Won't Back Down" (15,000), "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (12,000), "Learning to Fly" (11,000) and "You Don't Know How It Feels" (9,000). Greatest Hits also re-entered the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for the week ending Oct. 21 at No. 2 with 84,000 units sold. The album initially peaked at No. 5 on the roundup in Feb. 1994, following its release the previous year. Petty's 1994 solo studio effort Wildflowers returned to the chart at No. 27 with 16,000 units, Anthology: Through the Years returned at No. 32, and Damn the Torpedoes re-entered at No. 122. In more Petty news, the Los Angeles County coroner department has announced it is conducting an investigation of Petty's untimely death. Although no foul play is suspected, the agency says it investigates all deaths where the deceased hadn't seen a doctor in six months. Results of a toxicology screening, to determine if the musician had any drugs in his system, could take several months. - Billboard, 10/9/17...... Four original members of Foreigner -- guitarist Mick Jones, vocalist Lou Gramm, drummer Dennis Elliot and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald -- reunited on Oct. 6 at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Hotel in Michigan for the first of two weekend reunion concerts, the final U.S. dates of the group's 40th anniversary tour. The band, joined by newer members Rick Wills on bass and Michael Bluestein on keyboards, performed a five-song mini-set that included an acoustic version of "Fool For You Anyway" and their titanic hit "Juke Box Hero," which was introduced with a section of their 1978 instrumental "Tramontane." Some surviving original members of the original band had already reunited earlier in 2017 -- in Florida, Spain and at Jones Beach in New York -- but this marked the first time all of the musicians were together onstage at the same time. "It's good to be back," Wills told the crowd. "We don't believe it. You probably don't believe it, either." The reunion concert was recorded and filmed for a live album, home video and broadcast production set for 2018. The current Foreigner has a run of Canadian dates starting Oct. 10 in Calgary, while a Foreigner with the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra album and PBS special are in the works for 2018. - Billboard, 10/7/17...... After their nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 5, the Moody Blues members Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge issued a joint statement the same day saying, "We are very honored to be considered for an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We know that the fans have been diligently supporting us along the way on this, and that it means a lot to them, as well as to us. Being a British band, we are grateful for our American recognition, and especially to fans who have been with us throughout our musical journey." It has been speculated that a Moodys RRHOF induction could lead to a potential reunion of the group's most famous lineup. Hayward, Lodge and Edge remain active in the group, while keyboardist Mike Pinder left the band during 1978 and flutist Ray Thomas retired in 2002, though both made guest appearances on Lodge's 2015 solo album 10,000 Light Years Ago. Not included in the nomination are co-founding members Denny Lane or the late Clint Warwick, or keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Lodge will be releasing a solo live album this fall and playing a short U.S. tour starting Oct. 26, while the Moodys recorded and filmed one of the Days Of Future Passed 50th anniversary shows for subsequent release. The group plans to set sail on its Moody Blues Cruise on Jan. 2 out of Miami and follows with a short U.S. tour that winds up with four nights at the Wynn Las Vegas. - Billboard, 10/6/17...... Jeff Lynne's ELO have unveiled a trailer for their new live album and DVD, Wembley Or Bust. Recorded at their massive show at London's iconic Wembley Stadium on June 24, 2017, Wembley Or Bust. comes in a variety of formats across CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and vinyl and will be released on Nov. 17. Directed by Paul Dugdale, the 22-song release is loaded with such ELO classics as "Evil Woman," "Don't Bring Me Down," "Mr Blue Sky" and many more. "It's the best time I ever had in music," said Lynne of the Wembley show. "It is beyond anything I could have imagined." - NME, 10/6/17...... As '70s disco legends the Village People celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2017 with a world tour, the group has just been slapped with a lawsuit entangling several former creative partners that challenges the group's very name. The lawsuit was filed by Can't Stop Production, the U.S. arm of Scorpio Music -- a French label founded by Henri Belolo, who is credited with discovering the group back in the '70s. CSP alleges that the group's current members have no legal right to use the name Village People, directing their lawsuit at Sixuvus Ltd., a management company that six of the group's former members created upon reviving the group in 1987. Sixuvus counters that because the current Village People members have been performing under the name for three decades, CSP has already lost any trademark rights it may have had to the name. Ray Simpson, who replaced "motorcycle cop" Victor Willis as lead singer in 1979, released a statement on Oct. 5 claiming the suit was filed at the request of Willis himself, who in 2015 won the right to reclaim 50 percent of the copyright to several of the group's most famous songs, including "Y.M.C.A.," after a trial lasting nearly a month. "Our fans have responded over social media and in the court of public opinion," Simpson said in the statement. "They recognize that 'WE' are the true Village People the world has come to know and love. It is our pleasure and honor to perform for our audiences around the world, and look forward to continuing with our careers," he added. - Billboard, 10/6/17...... Van Morrison's latest album Roll With the Punches has bowed at No. 23 on Billboard's Hot 200 album chart for the week ending Sept. 28, the celtic crooner's 21st top 40-charting set and 47th entry overall on the chart. Also making its debut on the Hot 200, at No. 195, is former paramours Stephen Stills and Judy Collins' new duet album, Everybody Knows. Stills and Collins sing together on an album for the first time, and the release becomes Stills' first chart entry outside of super groups Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young since his 1984 solo set Right By You. As for Collins, the new album is her 18th charting effort, and second this decade, following 2015's Strangers Again. - Billboard, 10/5/17...... "The Flame," the "final chapter" of the late Leonard Cohen's poetry, is set to be officially released in 2018. Cohen himself chose and ordered the poems in the book, of which "the overwhelming majority" is new material. The iconic Canadian poet and musician, who died aged 82 on Nov. 7, 2016, first published a collection of poetry in 1956, and published 12 more volumes throughout his career. He also wrote two novels -- The Favorite Game and Beautiful Losers -- before his music career began in the late '60s. In a press release, publisher Canongate described "The Flame" as "an enormously powerful final chapter in Cohen's storied literary career." - New Musical Express, 10/7/17...... Flamboyant rock & roll icon Little Richard has reportedly renounced his homosexuality, and also says he now believes that same-sex relationships are "unnatural affections." Little Richard, 84, recently appeared on a program on the Christian network called Three Angels Broadcasting, and revealed that, in addition to abandoning his famous wig, he's also renounced his attraction to men because it's "unnatural." "When I first come in show business they wanted you to look like everybody but yourself," he said. "And, anybody that comes in show business they gone say you gay or straight God made men, men and women, women." - Dlisted.com, 10/7/17...... A group of residents in New York City has petitioned their leaders to have a street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood named in honor of Jimi Hendrix. Organizers of the petition are seeking to co-name West Eighth Street as "Jimi Hendrix Way," and hope the co-naming also would attract visitors to an area fighting gentrification. Richard Geist, a local store owner, says the block has "lost the magic and we want to bring that magic back." Hendrix opened his Electric Lady Studios on the West Eighth Street just before his death in 1970. To co-name a street, petitioners would have to make a proposal to the local community board before it could be proposed to the full New York City Council for a vote. - AP, 10/4/17...... Pop and R&B singer Walter "Bunny" Sigler, producer and artist that helped Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff create the "Philly Sound," died on Oct. 6 at home of a heart attack. He was 76. Sigler was known for his work with Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls, the Spinners and countless others, and his music was sampled by such contemporary acts as Jay Z, Nelly and Outkast. "He wrote, produced, recorded and sang," said his attorney Lee Remick, "and he wrote gospel, Christmas music, R&B and funk. He was a musical genius." According to Remick, Sigler had been sick for the last 10 months and suffered from diabetes. Both LaBelle and Gamble and Huff released statements paying tribute to Sigler. - 10/7/17...... Songwriter Jerry J. Ross, who co-wrote and produced such hits as The Supremes' "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and "Someday," died on Oct. 4 of prostrate cancer at the Holy Redeemer Hospital hospice unit in Meadowbrook, Penn. He was 84. Mr. Ross is credited with discovering and mentoring Kenny Gamble in a relationship that goes back to the late 1950s, when he helped Gamble and Thom Bell record "Someday" for his Heritage label as Kenny and Tommy. "Jerry Ross was instrumental in introducing Thom Bell and me to the music business, including signing me to my first recording artist deal with Columbia Records," Gamble said in a statement. "He mentored Thom Bell and me to write songs. He was our good friend and was key to the beginning of the Gamble, Huff and Bell legacy." - 10/7/17.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

As a U.S. tax court gets ready to render a decision in a huge case examining whether the government is owed money in estate taxes from Michael Jackson's death in 2009, the Internal Revenue Service has caught a small break. On Oct. 2, Judge Mark Holmes refused to strike testimony from the government's key valuation expert, Weston Anson, despite acknowledging that Anson's testimony wasn't truthful during the Feb. 2017 trial. Anson appeared on the witness stand to bolster the IRS' contention that the worth of Jackson's name and image at the time of death was $161 million, instead of just $2,105, as the Jackson estate maintains. Under cross-examination, Anson claimed that he had never worked for the IRS before, despite the fact that he had worked on a similar case involving Whitney Houston's estate. An ultimate decision in the case, which will be a pathbreaking one that will establish some guidance around the value of celebrities posthumous rights for estate tax purposes, is expected soon (that is, if estate taxes survive any tax reforms being currently contemplated by lawmakers in Washington D.C.). - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/3/17...... In a new interview with Variety,Bruce Springsteen has revealed that he has completed his new solo album, but as of now it has no title or release date. "It's connected to my solo records writing-wise... but it's not like them at all," Springsteen noted. "Just different characters living their lives." The Boss went on to say that the record "is influenced by Southern California pop music of the '70s... Jimmy Webb, Burt Bacharach, those kinds of records. I don't know if people will hear those influences, but that was what I had in my mind. It gave me something to hook an album around; it gave me some inspiration to write. And also, it's a singer-songwriter record." In a series of tweets on Oct. 3, Springsteen also reacted to the death of his friend and fellow musician Tom Petty a day earlier, describing himself as "devastated and heartbroken" over the death of a person he describes as "a long lost brother." "Down here on E Street, we're devastated and heartbroken over the death of Tom Petty," he tweeted. "Our hearts go out to his family and bandmates. I've always felt a deep kinship with his music. A great songwriter and performer, whenever we saw each other it was like running into a long lost brother. Our world will be a sadder place without him." Meanwhile three days earlier, Springsteen helped Bryan Adams close out the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto on Sept. 30 by jamming with the Canadian rocker on "Cuts Like a Knife" and "Badlands." The event is a week-long Paralympics-style competition for wounded military veterans. - New Musical Express/Billboard/Stereogum.com, 10/4/17...... Also paying tribute to Tom Petty in recent days are former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, rising stars Norah Jones and John Mayer, and Petty's own daughter, AnnaKim Violette. Don Felder, a friend and guitar mentor to Petty from his younger days in Gainsville, Fla., posted that his "heart was shattered" upon learning the news that Petty had died. "Growing up together in Gainesville and seeing one of my students blossom as an incredibly gifted musician and songwriter has been one of my most fulfilling experiences in this life," Felder said. "It was obvious very early on in his career that his talent, magnetism and charisma were a very special gift that few souls in this world are given. He has given this world so many wonderful memories and touched millions with his magic. Gone far too soon. May he rest in peace knowing how much he is loved and appreciated by all of us that are left behind." Norah Jones, who performed the Wildflowers songs "Time To Move On" and "You Don't Know How It Feels" with Petty at the MusicCare's Person of the Year gala that honored Petty in Feb. 2017, issued a statement saying she was obsessed with Petty's Wildflowers album as a young girl, and that "in the last 10 years, I've had the pleasure of singing his songs at countless tributes and Petty Fests and every time I was punched in the gut by the sheer beauty of his songwriting. So many gems. So many heartfelt anthems that make you wanna sing loud. So many favorites -- you just can't pick one. His music makes people feel so much." John Mayer mourned Petty in a poetic tribute on Instagram in which he said the Petty "made me believe that songwriting was everything... one of the high priests of the Sonic Church of California." Petty's youngest daughter AnnaKim Violette shared her thoughts and feelings on social media with a series of emotional posts featuring pictures of herself with her dad, including images of her dancing at his concerts. " I love his class honesty and how strange and funny he is... Tom Petty is an American Icon because his heart has always put human rights first," she tweeted. Meanwhile, Petty fans led a candle-lit vigil at the music icon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 3. In a series of photos posted on Instagram, a line of candles is seen on the edge of his star, along with bunches of freshly bought flowers that have been laid down. Fans are also mourning the rock legend's passing by snapping up and downloading several of his most well known albums. Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1993 Greatest Hits album appears to be headed to re-enter the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200 albums tally, with the set moving over 45,000 units in the week ending Oct. 5. It's also expected that Petty will impact Billboard's Top Rock Songs chart for the same week with hits like "Free Fallin'," "I Won't Back Down," "Mary Jane's Last Dance," "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "American Girl." - Billboard/WENN.com/New Musical Express, 10/3/17...... Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band announced on Oct. 3 that they've been forced to postpone the remainder of their North American Runaway Train Tour -- a total of 19 dates -- so Seger an tend to a medical issue concerning his vertebrae. "I'm so disappointed to have to suspend the tour as the band is on a great roll," Seger said in a statement. "It's a privilege to play for our amazing fans. Hoping to be back out on the road very soon." No further details were given, and rescheduled dates will be announced when available, with previously purchased tickets to be honored at the new dates. Seger and his band kicked off his current tour on Aug. 24 in Toledo, Oh., playing 13 shows before postponing their Sept. 30 gig in Columbus, Oh., due to a pinched vertebra in his neck. The tour was set to run through Nov. 17, the same day he releases his new album, I Knew You When. Seger's tour cancellation also affected the tour of his opening act, Roadcase Royale featuring Nancy Wilson, who also announced they were cancelling their shows on Seger's tour. - Billboard, 10/3/17...... After the shocking incident that occurred on Oct. 1 during a country music concert on the Las Vegas strip in which a lone gunman massacred at least 58 people and injured around 527 others with an automatic rifle from a nearby highrise hotel, Paul McCartney paid homage to the victims at the final stop on the U.S. leg of his One on One Tour on Oct. 2 in Detroit. After opening with the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," McCartney told the crowd at Little Caesars Arena that, "On such a terrible day, we're going to celebrate the joy in life" before leading into "Save Us." The sentiment echoed McCartney's tweet from earlier in the evening, when he wrote that, "Even though this has been a very sad day, we're going to celebrate the joys of life #OneOnOne." McCartney made no subsequent comments about Las Vegas, although the events there did add poignancy to renditions of songs such as "We Can Work It Out" and the pairing of "A Day In The Life" -- which McCartney noted was "appropriate in today's world" -- and John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance." One of Paul's fellow rock icons, Carlos Santana, also reacted to the tragic incident with a post on his official website: "To everyone that lost loved ones, we stand with you," said Santana. "Why allow weapons of mass destruction to be sold to civilians? The laws need to be changed to prevent this from ever happening again," he added. Santana is currently playing his fifth annual residency at the House of Blues Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay -- the same hotel from which a gunman fired into the audience at the nearby Route 91 Harvest country music festival. In related news, Johnny Cash's daughter, country singer Roseanne Cash called on her fellow country artists to denounce the National Rifle Association in the wake of the shooting in an editorial published in the New York Times on Oct. 3. In the essay, Cash pointed to how "the National Rifle Association has increasingly nurtured an alliance with country music artists and their fans." However, she writes, beneath the friendly "public relations veneer" of campaigns like NRA Country, which claims to celebrate American values, respect for the military, and freedom, Cash says that the "N.R.A. funds domestic terrorism." Cash urges her fellow country artists to "find the strength of moral conviction, even if it comes with a price tag, which it will." - Billboard, 10/3/17...... Kiss fans were split in their reaction to the band's request that the audience join them in a display of U.S. patriotism by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance during their set at the Gretna Heritage Festival in Louisiana on Sept. 30. "It's always cool to love your country," frontman Paul Stanley said before leading the audience in the pledge. One supporter tweeted, "Kiss just stopped their concert to take a moment to thank the veterans and say the pledge of allegiance. Pretty damn cool." But another concert attendee posted: "Kiss made everyone do the pledge of allegiance before they would do an encore. That was the least rock and roll thing I've ever seen." Kiss also led fans in the pledge at a September concert in Sugar Land, Tex. A year ago during their "Freedom to Rock" tour, Kiss criticized NFL star Colin Kaepernick for not standing while the national anthem was played before the start of games. - Billboard, 10/1/17...... Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner was laid to rest next to Marilyn Monroe, according to his wishes, on Sept. 30 after passing away three days earlier at age 91. The iconic Playboy founder was given an extremely private funeral and memorial service was held in Los Angeles at the Westwood Village Memorial Park. His four children and widow, Crystal Harris, were reportedly all in attendance. Mr. Hefner had purchased a crypt beside Monroe -- Playboy's first-ever cover girl -- all the way back in 1992 for a reported $75,000, even though the two had never even met in person. In 2009, Mr. Hefner told The Los Angeles Times, "I'm a believer in things symbolic. Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up." Meanwhile, it has been revealed that actor Jared Leto will portray Mr. Hefner in an upcoming biopic directed by Brett Ratner. "Jared is an old friend," says Ratner. "When he heard I got the rights to Hef's story, he told me, 'I want to play him. I want to understand him.' And I really believe Jared can do it. He's one of the great actors of today." In April, Ratner invited Leto to the Playboy Mansion for the premiere of Amazon's docuseries American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, which doubled as a celebration of Mr. Hefner turning 91. Ratner says he is also planning a reboot the Hugh Hefner-hosted, late-1960s talk show Playboy After Dark. - Billboard/The Hollywood Reporter, 10/3/17...... Former Commodores member Lionel Richie will be among the hosts for ABC's reboot of the new American Idol talent reality TV show, joining a panel that includes Ryan Seacrest, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. "I am very excited to be joining Katy, Luke and Ryan on 'American Idol,'" said Richie, according to a press release. "As a singer, songwriter and producer, I feel I can bring a great deal of experience to the table. It's going to be so much fun!" Shooting on the new American Idol began on Oct. 3, and the panel made their debut appearance on ABC's Good Morning America on Oct. 4. - Billboard, 9/29/17...... Roger Waters has announced he'll play the UK's Hyde Park in the summer of 2018 as part of the British Summer Time festival. The Pink Floyd icon will kick off the series of massive outdoor gigs on July 6, and is the first headliner to be announced after the likes of Phil Collins and Justin Bieber headlined the Hyde Park stage this past summer. The show will mark Waters' first live appearance in the UK since releasing new album Is This The Life We Really Want? in June, and comes as part of his "Us+Them Tour." - NME, 10/2/17...... Parlophone Records unveiled the highly anticipated David Bowie box set A New Career in a New Town on Sept. 29, an 11-disc compilation that focuses on the Thin White Duke's "Berlin Trilogy" -- the three LPs constructed between 1977 and 1979 which include Low, "Heroes" and Lodger. Featured in the release are such import rarities as the "Heroes" EP, which rounds up the German and French album and single versions of the song in a compilation exclusive to the set, as well as a newly remixed edition of Lodger.A New Career in a New Town is the latest installment of Parlophone's "definitive" Bowie reissue campaign. - Billboard, 9/29/17...... Two double albums' worth of unreleased recordings by late folk rock legend Tim Buckley are set to be released in October via Manifesto Records. The new releases will collect live recordings from Buckley's 1969 shows at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. The double CD Venice Mating Call and double LP Greetings From West Hollywood will both be released on Oct. 13. The records are the latest in a series of live albums released since Buckley's death. Tim Buckley died in 1975 at the age of28. He was found dead in his bed by his wife, having overdosed on heroin. - NME, 9/29/17...... God bless Ringo Starr, rock's mischievously minimalist and Eternal Optimist Emeritus, forever stripping things to their playfully swinging 4/4 peace-'n-love core. His umpteenth solo set Give More Love is a well-timed all-star candygram. Paul McCartney kicks in bass lines and Beatles screams on the hilarious war cry "We're on the Road Again," while "King of the Kingdom" is a giddily genteel reggae invitation to "sing praises for Haile Selassie." Ringo caps it all with re-imagined faves, including a charming "Don't Pass Me By" that ends with a reprise of "Octopus's Garden" -- a place he knows many of us would love to be alongside him. - Rolling Stone, 10/5/17...... On the growing list of farewell albums by dying rockers, Leon Russell's new contribution On a Distant Shore -- recorded months before his Nov. 2016 passing -- may be the most unflinching yet. "Sounds like a funeral for some person here/ And I might be the one," he bemoans; elswhere he dwells on loneliness and lost lovers. Paradoxically, though, the soul-rock icon hasn't sounded so alive in years. From the swampy choogle of "Love This Way" to the supper-club orchestration of "On the Waterfront" to the Cotton Club jazz of "Easy to Love," he poignantly circles his musical bases one last time. - Rolling Stone, 10/5/17...... Legendary TV game show host Monty Hall, best known as the host of Let's Make a Deal which aired on NBC beginning in 1963, died in his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sept. 30. He was 96. Born Monte Halparin in Winnipeg, Canada to Orthodox Jewish parents, Mr. Hall shot to fame in 1963 when he and a business partner developed and produced Let's Make a Deal. The show became an instant success, with contestants wearing crazy costumes to attract Hall's attention getting to choose between mystery prizes behind three bedazzled doors. The daytime show became so popular that NBC later moved a version of it to prime time. Mr. Hall was the father of actress Joanna Gleason, who announced the death to the New York Times. - New York Daily News, 9/30/17...... Percussionist Laudir de Oliveira, a former member of such rock ensembles as Brasil '66 and Chicago, died on Sept. 17 during a solo concert performance in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was 77. "He had just rained on a spectacular solo, at the end of "Fibra," a composition by Paulo Moura, said his fellow musician Jovi Joviniano. "It was super applauded. It was his last applause," said Jovi, who is also a percussionist. de Oliveira started out as a percussionist in Brazil, working with Sergio Mendes and Marcos Valle. He moved to the U.S. in 1968 and caught the eye of rock musicians and producers, playing on Joe Cocker's debut album and providing percussion on his hit song "Feelin' Allright." In 1973, Chicago invited de Oliveira to play on their album Chicago VI. After playing on the album Chicago VII in 1975, the band invited de Oliveira to become an official member as they began incorporating latin influences to their music. In 1978, de Oliveira played percussion on The Jacksons' album "Destiny." As Chicago moved into a pop-oriented sound, they asked de Oliveira to leave the band in 1982. He continued doing session work as a percussionist, playing with such greats as Carlos Santana, Nina Simone and Chick Corea. He reunited a few times with Chicago, playing with the band in 2016 in New York City. Chicago paid tribute to de Oliveira on their Facebook page, posting they were "grateful for the tremendous contributions he made to the music of Chicago and the enormous talent he shared with us, and with so many others." - 9/25/17.

Tom Petty, who with his band the Heartbreakers evolved into a classic American rock & roll band revered by his peers and fans alike, died on Oct. 2 of full cardiac arrest after being found not breathing in his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 66. News of the rock legend's death was finally confirmed after a series of premature reports about his supposed passing came earlier in the day, when CBS published Petty's obituary after tweeting that the Los Angeles Police Department had confirmed his death. After Variety also cited an unnamed source who said the musician had died, the LAPD then issued a statement saying it had no information on Petty's condition and that "initial information was inadvertently provided to some media sources," and apologized for the misunderstanding. Petty's manager finally released a statement saying that the singer/guitarist suffered a massive heart attack earlier in the day and passed at 8:40 p.m after being taken to UCLA Medical Center. Although emergency responders were able to get a pulse back, he remained in critical condition. "On behalf of the Tom Petty family we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty," his manager said in a statement. "He died peacefully surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends." Born on Oct. 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Fla., and the son of an insurance salesman, Petty quit high school in his senior year to join one of the state's top bands, Mudcrutch, which also included future Heartbreakers, guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench. Petty was sent to Los Angeles to seek a record contract, and Shelter Records, which was co-owned by Leon Russell and Russell's producer Denny Cordell, signed the band. Mudcrutch disbanded soon after moving to L.A., and while Cordell offered to record Petty solo, Petty waited until 1975 to form the Heartbreakers after hearing a demo recorded by Campbell, Tench, bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. The fivesome inherited Petty's Shelter contract, and released their self-titled debut the following year. After they toured England, the album moved up on the British charts and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers became a headlining act. After Shelter's U.S. distributor, ABC Records, released "Breakdown" in America, the single cracked the Top 40 and another song, the Byrds-y "American Girl," was later recorded by Byrds veteran Roger McGuinn (McGuinn would later recall hearing Petty on the radio and thinking it was himself singing). You're Gonna Get It, their sophomore effort released in 1978, placed two singles on the Hot 100, "Listen to Her Heart" and "I Need to Know." After ABC Records filed for bankruptcy as the band's career was taking off, Petty tried to renegotiate his record deal with ABC's new owner, MCA Records. After nine months of litigation, Petty signed to the MCA imprint Backstreet Records. Damn the Torpedoes, released in 1979, firmly established Petty and his band in the rock pantheon, sold over two-and-a-half million copies, and climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, helped by two Top 40 singles, "Don't Do Me Like That" (No. 10), and "Refugee," (No. 15). The followup, 1981's Hard Promises, went platinum on the strength of its infectious single "The Waiting" (No. 19), and became notable for Petty's insistence that MCA release it at an $8.98 list price instead of the then-high $9.98 price (he organized fan protest letters, and also threatened to title it "$8.98"). Petty scored another victory against corporations after tire manufacturer B.F. Goodrich attempted to use his "Mary's Got a Brand New Car" in a commercial, filing suit against the company. In 1981, Petty's duet with Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," was featured on Nicks' debut solo album Bella Donna, and rose to No. 3. His critical and commercial streak continued in 1982 with "You Got Lucky," from the LP Long After Dark, and Blair left the band and was replaced by Howie Epstein on bass. During the making of 1985's Southern Accents, three years in the making, Petty became frustrated and broke his left hand after punching a wall, but the Dave Stewart-coproduced album did produce a No. 13 single, "Don't Come Around Here No More." In 1986, Petty and Heartbreakers embarked on a world tour with Bob Dylan but after a well-received outing, Petty's house burned down the following year while he was away (arson was suspected, and his wife and two daughters escaped). His career was revitalized in 1988 when he joined the "supergroup" the Traveling Wilburys with Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra. His first solo effort, Full Moon Fever, was released the following year. Produced by Lynne, the acclaimed album's "Free Fallin'" went to No. 7 on the pop chart. In 1991, Petty released another fine effort with the Heartbreakers, Into the Great Wide Open, also produced by Lynne, and the following year it was announced that he had signed a secret $20 million, six-album deal with Warner Bros. Records, even though he owed MCA two more records at the time. In 1993, Petty was sued by songwriter Martin Allen Fine, who claimed Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream" infringed on an earlier song that Fine had written. Petty was vindicated when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court's ruling that his song did not violate Fine's copyright. "I don't believe in lawsuits much.

I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs," Petty told Rolling Stone in 2006, after it was pointed out that a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers sounded suspiciously like his own hit, "Mary Jane's Last Dance." Petty scored another triumph in 1994 with the release of his second solo album, Wildflowers, which went triple-platinum and, again, featured most of the Heartbreakers. Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 (on their first nomination), and despite achieving the stature as one of the country's top rock bands, he didn't actually score his first No. 1 album until 2014 with Hypnotic Eye. "The only good thing about getting older is you get smart enough to avoid unnecessary problems. You know what's worth spending time on and what's not," Petty told Billboard. "If I had known that at 20, life would have been so much easier, but you have to experience all these things so you figure out how to find your way through the woods." Petty and the Heartbreakers had just wrapped their 40th anniversary tour at the Hollywood Bowl in late September. Artists tweeting their respects to Petty include Paul McCartney ("Sending love to Tom Petty and his family at this difficult time"), Ringo Starr ("God bless Tom Petty peace and love to his family I'm sure going to miss you Tom"), Sheryl Crowe ("no words. just thanks"), Paul Stanley, Bryan Adams, Steven Van Zandt and Cameron Crowe. - The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock/Billboard, 10/3/17.